There are circumstances under which it may be necessary or advisable to track the movements of one or more persons within a relatively well-defined space, such as a home, hospital, or prison. For instance, elderly or infirm persons that live alone or in a nursing home may need frequent or even relatively constant monitoring by caregivers. In order to reduce the staffing needs for monitoring and caring for persons in such situations and/or to reduce the burden on other family members or household members, it would be desirable to automate, to the extent reasonably possible, the monitoring of such persons.
For instance, in many instances it may be desirable to monitor the movement of a person about a house so as to know if that person is going to the bathroom or using the kitchen on a normal basis. Alternately, it may be desirable to track the movement of a person in order to assure that the person is moving on a regular basis and not incapacitated or otherwise unable to move.
In other situations, for instance, institutional situations such as nursing homes or hospitals, it may simply be advantageous to know the whereabouts of individuals so that they can be located for purposes of being provided medications or other care or simply to find them when they are missing.